Sociologist Charles L Bosk spent time interviewing workers at a clinic that did “genetic counseling” of pregnant women and couples and sometimes encouraged them to abort. They also treated sick children and managed the pregnancies of the woman who didn’t abort, but they showed bias for abortion in many cases. Here is one example.
A couple did not know whether or not their child would be handicapped. They did not abort, and the child was born healthy. This conversation took place between two doctors:
“He [one of the doctors] says, “Look, we’ve been in this situation before with Mr. Whatsit, who had the funny 3rd chromosome. We downplayed it, and everything worked out happily; things worked out in that situation.”
At this point, Bill Smith says, “You’ve got to watch that.”
Giordano is puzzled, “Watch what?”
Bill said, “that “happily” – what if the Whatsits aborted, and the fetus had been normal? Well, it still would’ve been “happily” because it’s a situation they could live with.” Bill then said that Giordano should avoid saying “happily” for pregnancies that are carried to term, that that’s not necessarily any more of a happy conclusion than an abortion.”
Charles L Bosk All God’s Mistakes: Genetic Counseling in a Pediatric Hospital (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992) 124
Yes, this medical doctor felt that giving birth to a healthy baby was not any “happier” than the healthy baby dying in an abortion. And these were the people who counseled pregnant women in a vulnerable state.
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